VIVID MEMORY FOR EVERYDAY PAINS

A 2-part study in which memory for everyday pains was investigated is reported. The first part compared ratings of vivid, 'flashbulb' memori es of pain and non-pain events. Memories of pain events were rated as having been more surprising, having induced more negative emotional ch ange, and having provoked greater change in ongoing activity than thei r non-pain event counterparts. In the second part of the study the rel ationship between remembering the pain event, experiencing the pain an d re-experiencing the sensory qualities was examined. No subject repor ted sensory re-experiencing and 41% of subjects were unable to recall the sensory quality of the pain experience memory. Elements of pain ex perience (recalled intensity, distress and sensory quality) were diffe rentially associated with components of pain event memory. Distress wa s associated with the reported frequency with which the pain event was rehearsed and with ratings of emotional and activity change induced b y the pain event. In contrast, ratings of the intensity and sensory qu ality of the pain were associated with the reported vividness of the p ain event memory. It is concluded that memories of painful events are readily retrievable and that the memory for a pain event, the sensory and affective qualities of pain experience and somatosensory component of pain are separated in their encoding and/or retrieval. The possibl e mechanisms whereby pain memories are encoded and retrieved are discu ssed. The clinical implications of the data concerning how judgements of past pain are made and the possible role of memory in coping are al so noted.